Next Tuesday, October 11th, Pihtt Tancura and Kaydis Otayo return in their first comic from Tom Carver, the writer of the 'Fear and Harmony' trilogy - and it features a very special new character. Read on to find everything you should know before reading this exciting new entry in SWE Fiction!
The Face of Fear
The Face of Fear was the very first short story to be released as part of SWE Fiction back in June 2021, and the first instalment in the 'Fear and Harmony' trilogy. Pihtt Tancura made his debut appearance, as a padawan in the Jedi Order about to undergo the necessary trials to become a Jedi Knight. He leaves behind his stern master, Rhee Soldarum, departing the Coruscant temple for the Moon of Scalale with fellow padawan Elio Adfel; their task, to retrieve a precious mineral that can be used to make lightsaber hilts. This mission is challenging because of the 'The Shudder', native creatures of Scalale which can tap into and amplify a person's fear until it drives them mad. Things are further complicated by Pihtt's romantic attraction to Elio, which he tries and fails to hide. Pihtt has serious imposter syndrome, and an encounter with The Shudder reveals his fear that he will disappoint the Jedi - but ultimately, when Elio is critically injured by a wild animal, Pihtt forfeits his trial and faces The Shudder once again in order to bring him back to safety. This selfless act, and confrontation of his fear, earns him the title of Jedi Knight; however, although Pihtt and Elio go their separate ways, Pihtt knows he can't deny his feelings any longer.
A Fragile Harmony
Next, we are introduced to Kaydis Otayo, a young man around Pihtt's age on the planet of T'faal. He is the son of a restaurant owner, but dreams of being a singer; what he never expected is to be randomly chosen as a representative for his sector of the planet, Affamori (T'faal has an unusual system of government, which we will touch on later). Kaydis must be a Delegate of the Assemblage - a politician - for a five year term, leaving behind his home and his family to become a leader of millions of people. Kaydis, like Pihtt, believes that he is not good enough for this responsibility, and feels like a fish out of water amongst the other delegates; however, he befriends a young and outgoing young woman named Hesti Karis, who is representing her sector of Satakka. T'faal is proudly independent of the Galactic Republic - but almost as soon as Kaydis is appointed to the Assemblage, Republic Chancellor Lina Soh reaches out to T'faal with an invitation, and he is faced with a decision for the future of his planet.
Hesti passionately campaigns for joining the Republic, but the majority opinion seems to be against her. Suddenly, Hesti is arrested, for lying about her age and entering the Assemblage despite being only sixteen - the public are outraged, Kaydis feels he has been deceived, and the campaign for joining the Republic seems like it has finished as quickly as it began. However, Kaydis soon finds out that Hesti and her family are homeless, and accepted the invitation to become a Delegate with hope that they could improve T'faal. The Republic's resources could help to eradicate poverty, and seeing such terrible living conditions up close makes up Kaydis' mind. He finds his voice, giving a powerful speech which sways the majority opinion and is instrumental in allowing negotiations to open with the Republic! But in what seems to be a new age of prosperity, disaster is just around the corner...
A new organisation is rising, opposing Republic involvement on the planet and named simply 'T'faal First'. Just as Republic ambassadors arrive, T'faalian ships are giving an air display - but one breaks off to fire on the new visitors. T'faal First has gained influence everywhere, even in the highest ranks of the military. The Republic senators are injured, along with two accompanying Jedi Knights: Mavra Zane, and Pihtt Tancura...
The First Impression
In the aftermath of T'faal First's attack, Pihtt and Kaydis cross paths for the first time. They immediately sense an attraction to each other and team up to infiltrate the insurgent organisation, with the unexpected help of an Umbaran bounty hunter named Venyks. The trio get inside the secret base of T'faal First, with Pihtt pretending to have been captured, and find the group's leader: Eitohn Pallex, the brother of Vitra Pallex, the pilot responsible for the attack in A Fragile Harmony. Eitohn announces that he has sent agents of the Insurgency to the prison where Vitra is held, planning to break her out. When Venyks and Kaydis have their cover blown, they overpower Eitohn and race to warn Captain Ashla Rhomar and the T'faal Guard about the impending attack on the prison. With their base discovered, T'faal First set it to self-destruct, and Pihtt, Kaydis and Venyks barely escape before it explodes.
The Insurgency succeeds in freeing Vitra Pallex from prison, and the destruction of their base does little to diminish the threat they pose to T'faal. Venyks parts ways with Pihtt and Kaydis, then Pihtt has to return to the Jedi order - although he and Kaydis have left a strong impression on each other. After centuries of peace, the prospect of civil war on T'faal seems frighteningly likely - but hope can be found in the Jedi's display of unity at the Dedication Ceremony on Starlight Beacon (an event from the High Republic novels!) Pihtt privately looks forward to meeting Kaydis again, departing for T'faal once again along with his fellow Jedi Mavra Zane and Jeko Raq. This sets the stage for what's to come in Inquisition of the Heart.
The government of T'faal
The setting for Inquisition of the Heart is the formerly peaceful planet of T'faal. Tom Carver has explored in depth what makes T'faal unique, its intriguing culture and unusual system of government, and we'll touch on this below to help you know the planet better.
It is said that a long time ago, T'faal was ruled by ten deities. The people of the planet chose to honour these deities by splitting the planet into ten sectors, one for each of them:
Aurum: The Deity of Life and the Suns
Satakka: The Deity of Courage
Affamori: The Deity of Love
Eidat: The Deity of Wisdom
Steron: The Deity of Craft
Jeshiir: The Deity of Health
Tyolin: The Deity of Nature
Koti: The Deity of Oceans
Inzora: The Deity of Skies
Zurum: The Deity of Death and the Moons
The people ensured that the planet progressed and flourished under this new system. One day, the deities ascended into the sky and left the people behind with their newfound peace and prosperity. Many believe that they still watch over T'faal, living amongst the stars.
In the High Republic era, the capital sector of T'faal - Aurum - creates eight golden leaves, called Aurum leaves, and the underground sector of Zurum distributes them to the other eight sectors using the water supply. Whoever happens to receive an Aurum Leaf is invited to become the Delegate for their sector, representing it in the T'faal Assemblage under the leadership of Ignatius Arteran, sovereign ruler of the planet. Affamori is Kaydis' sector, and Satakka is Hesti Karis'. Through this tradition, Kaydis suddenly became an important political figure, and has loyal Guard Captain and close friend Ashla Rhomar by his side.
T'faal has incredibly wealthy, beautiful city areas, which will be the backdrop for the story in Inquisition of the Heart. However, the planet also has areas of extreme poverty and hardship for its citizens - citizens who Kaydis is determined to help, and now protect from the dangerous T'faal Insurgency.
The Forgotten One
A very interesting new SWEF character features in Inquisition of the Heart, and the story is the first part of their debut comic series. They are The Forgotten One, a mysterious Force-sensitive being who has lived for thousands of years and has been witness to countless historical events in the Star Wars timeline. Existing separate from the orders of Jedi and Sith, the sides of light and dark, they are guided by the Force as a whole and often appear to help people who are in need of hope. The strangest thing is that nobody remembers encountering them - or that they even exist at all.
The Forgotten One has only just been introduced in the short story Let The Light In - written by their creator, Jacob Lotan - which you can check out for yourself here. Inquisition of the Heart sees them in the High Republic era, paying a visit to Pihtt during a tumultuous time in his life. A memorable encounter is in store, and the SWEF team is excited for you to see more of this fascinating addition to the Star Wars galaxy.
That's about all the information you need to know for Inquisition of the Heart! If you haven't read the 'Fear and Harmony' trilogy or 'Let the Light In' yet, fear not - with the help of everything outlined in this article, and the context provided in the comic, you will be able to follow the story without a problem. If you want to see more of these characters, all the above stories are still available on this very website - and I recommend you stay tuned for the exciting future projects to come.
Inquisition of the Heart arrives next Tuesday, October 11th, written by Tom Carver and with art by the talented Benji Marsh. Thanks for reading, and may the Force be with you...
Artwork featured in this article is by, in order: Benji Marsh (@_rebenji), Jack Ingram (@JackIngram95) and Roberto Venegas (@Roberto_Draws)
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